HISTORY OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY HAZARDOUS INCIDENT RESPONSE TEAM

In the early 1970s, fire departments in lower Fairfield County, Connecticut banded together to form the Mid-Fairfield County Foam Unit.  The relationship among the fire departments was in the nature of a traditional mutual aid arrangement among municipal fire departments, without formal legal or governing structure.  In those years, applying concentrated firefighting foam was the best technique available to control petroleum-type fires and spills.  The four original fire departments of Westport, Wilton, Norwalk and Ridgefield wanted to have enough foam available to fight a major fire or control a major spill.  But the expense involved in stockpiling significant quantities of foam was beyond the budget of any single fire department.  By pooling their resources, the four departments were able to create a foam response unit of sufficient scale to handle problem incidents without wasteful replication of inventory.  The Town of Wilton assigned for the Unit’s use a surplus pumper to transport foam and appliances.  That vehicle was dubbed the “Buttertub” for its bright yellow paint.

By the early 1980s, the mutual aid arrangement had expanded to eight fire departments:  Westport, Norwalk, Fairfield, Ridgefield, Wilton, Stratford, Weston and Darien.  In 1984, the City of Norwalk made available to the Unit its first HazMat vehicle, a surplus rescue unit that replaced the Buttertub.  For the next five years Norwalk’s old rescue unit responded to incidents in the eight municipalities.  

Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the Unit maintained a roster of equipment  - owned by the various municipalities but assigned for use by the Unit when required to respond to a HazMat incident.  The Unit also maintained a roster of qualified personnel  -  career firefighters (employed by the various municipalities) and volunteer firefighters.   The fire departments made their employee and volunteer firefighters available for dispatch to HazMat incident scenes under the mutual aid arrangement.  During that period, no funds were allocated to the Unit by any of the municipalities.  The Unit’s equipment roster consisted of surplus equipment assigned by the various municipalities.

In the late 1980s, tightening federal regulations changed the way hazardous materials were handled.  Both shippers and end users were required to inform the public about hazardous materials within the community.  And significant emphasis was placed on emergency HazMat response planning as well as training and competency requirements for agencies responding to HazMat incidents.  The newly promulgated regulations and standards forced a change in fire service agencies broadly in the United States and, in particular, for the eight fire departments and the mission of the Mid-Fairfield County Foam Unit.  In May, 1991, the Unit’s name was changed to Mid-Fairfield County Hazardous Materials Unit and a new vehicle was assigned for the Unit’s use:  a renovated 1972 vintage soda delivery truck donated by Pepsi-Cola Corporation. 

In the 1990s, the Unit responded to the new challenges of HazMat incident response.   Firefighters appearing on the Unit’s roster continued to be career and volunteer firefighters employed by – or volunteering for – the eight municipalities.   The Unit met numerous new OSHA and NFPA challenges in a fast-changing industry.  Every one of the Unit’s firefighters became a certified NFPA HazMat Technician, attending training that exceeded OSHA HazMat training by 75 contact hours.  The Unit’s firefighters also attended training throughout the country at specialty schools such as Texas A&M, Safety Systems of Florida and the American Association of Railroads, in Colorado, to learn cutting edge procedures and skills.

As the Unit evolved, a satellite paging service was provided to firefighters in order to secure their response to emergencies, while the on-duty technicians of the Westport Fire Department transported the HM1 unit to incident scenes.  As the Unit’s mission expanded, a stream of funding was added to the mutual aid arrangement.  Each municipality agreed to contribute $1,250.00 per year to support the Unit’s mission.  The contributions were held by the Town of Westport.  In addition, each fire department agreed to provide a minimum of two certified technicians to the Unit’s roster.   Salaries, benefits and overtime costs continued to be covered by the respective fire departments.

In the 1990s, the Unit began billing commercial property owners, transportation companies and the like for services rendered at an industry-standard rate for vehicles, labor and material expended.  Those bills provided additional revenue, which the Unit deposited with the Town of Westport.  From time to time, the Unit would identify needed equipment, which would then be acquired one of the municipalities, using the funds accumulated in the Unit’s account.

By 1999, the Unit’s geographical coverage had expanded to fourteen towns and cities.  In 1999, the Fire Department Chiefs of the fourteen towns and cities secured from their respective town and city elected officials approval of an interlocal agreement entitled Hazardous Materials Assistance Mutual Aid Agreement for Additional Fire Protection (the “1999 Mutual Aid Agreement”).  The 1999 Mutual Aid Agreement formalized the unwritten agreement of the fourteen towns and cities to provide personnel and equipment to the Unit’s rosters in order to respond to HazMat incidents.

In late December, 2007, a new Communications Command and Control vehicle was assigned for use by the Unit.  The vehicle provided a mobile communications, command and control presence for emergencies and events of all types in the fourteen municipality region. 

Over time, the Fire Chiefs recognized that the 1999 Mutual Aid Agreement was inadequate in that it provided no legal entity structure for the Unit.  Without a legal entity structure, the Unit was unable to accept donations in its own name, apply for grants in its own name and enter into municipal aid agreements with regional non-municipal entities, such as airports and major industrial enterprises.  Also, because the Unit had no legal entity structure, the Unit could not open a bank account and, consequently, the annual contributions that the municipalities were making in furtherance of the Unit’s mission had to be held by one of the municipalities.

Beginning in October, 2022, the Fire Chiefs petitioned the legislative bodies of the fourteen municipalities to approve an Amended and Restated Interlocal Agreement (the “2022 Interlocal Agreement”).   The 2022 Interlocal Agreement provided for a legal entity to be formed, a new corporation, to supplement the existing mutual aid arrangement.   By October, 2023, the 2022 Interlocal Agreement had been formally approved by a majority of the fourteen municipalities, enabling the Fire Chiefs to file a Certificate of Incorporation.  On October 23, 2023, the Unit was formally incorporated as Fairfield County Hazardous Incident Response Team, Inc. (“FCHIRT”). 

Presently, FCHIRT has over 75 HazMat Technicians on its roster from the fourteen municipalities that comprise DEHMS Region 1.  FCHIRT’s commitment to public safety is widely acknowledged and serves as a model for other regions of the State.   The fourteen municipalities continue to contribute the services of their employees and volunteers to FCHIRT’s mission.   In addition to responding to HazMat incidents, FCHIRT’s technicians meet monthly, dedicating many hours to ongoing training.  The Fire Chiefs of the fourteen municipalities, now formally the Directors of the corporation, meet quarterly to oversee the organization’s administration and future endeavors.  Cost recovery and financing is a major focus of the Fire Chiefs, along with the utilization of domestic preparedness funding and the annual contributions of the fourteen municipalities (currently $3,500 per year).  What makes it all work is the regional approach, leveraging economies of scale to lessen the cost of operations, a concept that has historically been foreign to Connecticut, which is a home rule State.

In recent years, the Unit has been very fortunate in the grant funding area.  By cooperating with one or more of the municipalities, the Unit has been awarded federal funds through Connecticut DEHMS.  That funding allowed for the acquisition of a Decontamination Trailer and its “Prime Mover” tow vehicle, in addition to a replacement response vehicle, which retired the second generation HM 1, which was donated by the Coca-Cola Bottling Company.   The Fire Chiefs look forward to applying for available grants directly, in FCHIRT’s name, and to continuing to expand the Unit’s utility and value to the municipalities in DEHMS Region 1.

Founding Members:

Alfred Morton, Norwalk Fire Department

Christopher Ackley, Westport Fire Department

Edward Zygmant, Westport Fire Department

Bruce Kelly, Westport Fire Department

Richard Dingee, Ridgefield Fire Department

Jonathan Gotfried, Westport Fire Department

David Sanford, Wilton Fire Department

For further information, please contact Chief James Blanchfield, Wilton Fire Department, 203-834-6247.